History of Emerald Reach
0 - 1000 FA In the year 838FA, humans arrived along the coasts of Murbrook and soon erected their first structure in this newfound land. However, as the human settlers moved inland it was not long before they realized that the land had already been claimed. Wood elves had resided in these lands for centuries, but it was the elves’ wish to have amiable relations with their new neighbors and so no blood was to be shed. The wood elves gifted land to the humans that included a small portion of the Ayrewood Forest in which the humans could reside and expand their resources for the future. The village established in these lands by the humans became known as Murbrook, and a period of peace began which enabled the human population to grow. However, peace never endures forever, and in the year 974FA, from deep in the forest emerged the raving green hordes, comprised of orcs, trolls and goblins. Relentless assaults upon the town of Murbrook began, and it was not long before Murbrook faced the possibility of complete annihilation. Desperate to stop the full-on destruction of their home, the citizens of Murbrook reached out to the Fucien Alliance, the coalition to which the Ayrewood races belonged. 1000 - 1200FA The Alliance welcomed Murbrook into its fold and shortly thereafter extended its defenses to encompass Murbrook and its nearby lands. This strengthened defense held back the green hordes effectively for centuries, but not without many losses on both sides. The alliance held firm until 1218FA, the year in which the drow, denizens of Wurgoth, inserted themselves into the conflict in a most insidious way. The drow had manipulated the green horde, steering their assault from the very beginning. Furthermore, the drow utilized illusion magic to impersonate wood elves and began a targeted raid on one of the human watchtowers, killing the then Murbrook leader in the process. 1200 - 1500FA In 1219FA, Murbrook withdrew from the Alliance in response to the attack, and swiftly began to enact their revenge for the wood elves’ betrayal. Humans attacked the wood elves in the nearby forests in a crusade of vengeance, an attack which the wood elves were entirely unprepared to endure. The surprise attack was extremely effective and quickly crippled the wood elves when combined with the constant attacks by the green hordes. This forced the wood elves and the rest of the alliance to pull back deeper into their forests, and for the wood elves to send for aid from their elvenkin lest they, themselves, face annihilation. Initially, the high elves refused to pay heed to the wood elves’ call for aid, prioritizing instead to keep their attention upon the growing drow threat to their own Kingdom. However, in 1233FA, the high elves received confirmed reports of drow in the area working together with the green horde and the high elves moved to support the wood elves and joined the Fucien Alliance. Before focusing on the drow, the elves turned their forces to deal with the most pressing threat, that of the vengeful humans. With the sudden inclusion of powerful arcane magic wielded by the high elves brought to bear in the conflict, the people of Murbrook soon suffered defeat after defeat until they had been completely removed from the forests of Ayrewood by 1235FA. Rather than press Murbrook, the high elves turned their attention to the Green Horde to draw out the drow and bring them openly into the conflict. In 1236FA, the drow finally directly joined the conflict, and began to conduct nightly full force raids against the elves. Along with the drow, came their allies, including those that had been tainted by vampirism and lycanthropy, to halt the advance of the Fucien Alliance. Both sides of the conflict were closely matched, and a bloody stalemate persisted for years. From 1237FA to 1284FA, Murbrook lived under the fear of a final, decisive attack, unaware that the Fucien Alliance was otherwise engaged with the drow and their allies. Murbrook spent the years of anxious peace forming alliances with other nearby Kingdoms and races to bolster their resources and defenses. This effort saw an influx of dwarves, gnomes and halflings to immigrate to Murbrook, turning what was previously human-only lands into their own alliance in hopes of protecting themselves. 1500 - 1600FA In 1500FA, Murbrook had grown to become a rather formidable force. Stone walls protected the city and under the leadership of their newly appointed chancellor, trade routes were vast and farms flourished. Over the past few centuries, the citizens of Murbrook benefited greatly from the elven focus on the drow. Faith grew and spread among the citizens of Murbrook, and their use and mastery of divine magic grew along with it. The opportunity for the Fucien Alliance to easily crush Murbrook under heel had passed, and the city was now a force to be reckoned with even for the high elves with their mastery of arcane magic. The humans had come together with dwaves, gnomes, halflings, and even tieflings were allowed within the city, in order to form what became known as the Taeral Pact. In 1550FA, after years of negotiation, an official ceasefire was announced between the Fucien Alliance and the Taeral Pact. Terms were discussed and agreed to, in which the races of the Fucien Alliance were not allowed within the city walls and humans and their allies were only permitted within the area of the forest that had initially been granted to the humans by the wood elves. The war, now concluded, came to be referred to historically as the Maiklin War. 1600 - Present The current years is 1681FA, over a hundred years after the ceasefire between the Taeral Pact and the Fucien Alliance. Murbrook, Ayrewood, and Wurgoth each have solidified their strength and cemented their alliances. Wurgoth, ruled by the cruel drow, continues to send forth a never-ending tide of raids and attacks against the lands of Murbrook and Ayrewood. Slaughter, enslavement and similar atrocities committed during these raids have become a routine part of life in these lands. In the eyes of the shorter lives races of Murbrook, the ceasefire has become ingrained in their society after generations. The source of old hatreds have faded to stories, and the memories of the Maiklin War have begun to fade. The majority of Murbrook has become more accepting of the races of Ayrewood. In fact, they have even begun to allow the races of Ayrewood to enter their villages, though never past their city walls. While Murbrook has, by and large, started accepting those of Ayrewood, dissent, and generations of deep-seated hatreds, simmer beneath the surface, and the harsher treatment of their kind in Ayrewood has led to more and more voices rising up in protest. The Ayrewood races, on the other hand, have a much longer memory. Many of the elves were alive during the Maiklin War, many even observed the first few humans build their homes upon Murbrook’s shores and then all of the bloodshed that eventually followed. They have not forgotten. In Ayrewood, the people of Murbrook receive slightly harsher treatment. They are typically refused entry at high elven settlements, the lizardfolk seeming to carefully decide on an individual basis, and while more welcomed in wood elven villages, they must be willing to hand over weapons. Even then, there are laws that clearly favor those of the forest, and the price of goods is often heightened in an effort to turn those of Murkbrook away. Despite all of this, some of the people of Ayrewood have attempted to genuinely welcome them, but they are not currently in a majority. These three lands, of comparable power, are at a turning point in their histories. Peace, it is said, never endures. Will Wurgoth succeed in their relentless drive to crush Murbrook and Ayrewood? Will Ayrewood and Murbrook let the resentments of the past go, or will old hatreds burn anew? Within each Alliance, will the balance of power shift, bringing entirely new motives to the fore? Whatever the case, the future of this land is yours to determine.